Peterborough's Higgsy's fighting for future in current location as trading licence refused

Higgsy’s has established a reputation as one of the area’s most popular takeaway food food joints, with its Daisy Duke and Redneck smash burgers proving popular with fans.

Run by Adam Miller and Amber Higgs, Higgsy’s currently trades from the layby on the A15 close to Norman Cross and is open to the public from 11am-3pm on Tuesday to Sautrday.

At the beginning of the year, the business applied for its fourth annual licence to continue street trading but this was refused by Huntingdon District Council last month. The decision was delivered by Huntingdonshire District Council the landowner which has denied permission is Cambridgeshire County Council.

The refusal came following concerns that from Cambridgeshire County Council’s Highways department.

The authority raised concerns that:

- The unit has grown in size since the one first approved in 2022 and that “the layby site is not suitable or appropriate for a venture that has significantly grown since it first started trading.”

- Queues from customers extend onto the carriageway, causing a risk to road users.

- Damage has been done to the highway and the deterioration of the surface due to the popularity of the business and the increased volume of vehicles

- Licence conditions have been breached as the original licence states that “the container must be removed within 24 hours from the location if required by an authorised officer” and it has never been moved.

Higgsy’s has refuted these claims and has submitted an appeal against the decision, countering by stating:

- The container has not grown in size, rather a lean to has been installed and that a licence has since been granted since it was installed.

-Queues have never extended out onto the road itself.

- Customer cars have not damaged the driveway and blocked drains and that they first raised concerns just two weeks after opening about the state of the road and that no action has ever been taken.

- There have never been any request made to move the container, therefore it has never moved.

In an appeal letter, Higgsy’s also stressed the positive impact the business has had on the lay-by itself and the wider community.

The letter states: “We have been told by the teams who empty the three site bins that since we have been in place, fly tipping in the layby has reduced massively, so much so that it is now extremely rare. A point we support as when we started it was commonplace. The area now also suffers much less casual littering than before. Something we are very proud of.

"Since we started trading we’ve gained huge popularity, raised and donated thousands of pounds to local charities. We promote local businesses and have had great positive effect on their customer footfall.

"I love to work with the people involved to make the area much nicer, as has always been our aim. Higgsy’s is a well-known place to come for some much-needed human interaction – to enjoy a good chat while we cook your food. It’s a much-loved service and location.”

The licence appeal will be decided by Huntingdonshire District Council’s Licensing and Protection Sub-Committee on Tuesday (March 24).